I was reported for inappropriate communication. I’ve appealed but the response was generic you agreed to the TOS. I was not spamming or saying anything hateful, or abusive. I’m pretty sure I got mass reported for trying to sell tanking runs by people that were angry they couldn’t get a tank. I didn’t get into any back and forth with these folk, I had an ad in my LFG note in TBC Anniversary and just referred them to that prior to joining group. I would like to know why I was banned with specifics so I can avoid doing this in the future.
That is why you got penalized. You may not use the LFG tool for advertising.
If you wish to advertise tank services you need to use the Trade Services channel only.
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What channel were you trying to sell this service in?
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I know someone was action as well trying to use notes for their ad, but can’t find it now. I know someone can find it for me. But the notes isn’t an alt way around the no ads in the LFG rule.
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They were using LFG which is why they got dinged.
OP here is the related Support article on advertising and services.
'https://us.support.blizzard.com/en/help/article/187406
Can I sell Mythic+ boosting services?
* A player is selling a mount code in the General chat
- There is a player spamming a gold selling website in Trade chat
Accounts that are used for the primary purpose of advertising will be closed.
Selling in-game items and services such as carries or boosting for real money is not allowed. Organizations who offer boosting, matchmaking, escrow, or other non-traditional services (including those offered for gold) are prohibited, especially those operated across multiple realms.
Individuals and guilds are allowed to sell items, crafted items, profession services, etc. for gold but can only advertise these trades in-game through the Trade chat channel.
Individuals and guilds are allowed to offer GDKP* runs and boosting services for gold, as well as request gold tips for assistance in raiding, completing dungeons, or PvP activities. Any and all advertisement must occur in the Services chat channel**. The advertisement must be done by the WoW player-character who intends to participate in the gameplay activity. This means there should be no cross-realm advertising, and there should be no advertising from non-participating players.
*GDKP is not allowed in Anniversary, Hardcore, and Season of Discovery realms.
**You can type /join Services or /leave Services in any major city to join or leave the Services chat channel.
Reporting
To report a player for inappropriate advertisement, use the right-click option. You will not receive a direct response, but we take all reports very seriously.
[/quote]
This thread. Then the person tried rules lawyer which just plain got it locked.
They seemed to ignore the key line in the Support article.
Any and all advertisement must occur in the Services chat channel.
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That is bonkers that you can get a 1 week ban for a service within your LFG note. Nobody is getting spammed. You mouseover it and say, oh nope not this person.
To add on to what everyone else has been saying - this won’t happen. They don’t give specifics as people often try to argue/rules lawyer. Others could also potentially use this information to accomplish inappropriate things.
How are people supposed to know? These things aren’t written in a clear manner anywhere.
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Well, you know now. Try now to do it again. The GMs ain’t going to do the ‘how’d I know’ game as they’ll revew the reports and if the reported thing breaks the rules or not. They don’t take account of ‘did they knew’, as we agrees to the games terms before playing, so that idea doesn’t apply.
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People are responsible for educating themselves of the rules in the game they’re playing.
I wouldn’t really say that, it’s a stickied thread at the TBC forums with further links to the governing policies.
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The chat penalties are set up with standard durations.
- 1st = 1 week Silence (unable to use chat channels/social features)
- 2nd = 1 week Suspension from game
- 3rd = 2 week Suspension from game
- 4th = longer and it goes up until license closure. Blizz has never said how long that is. They can also close an account right away for egregious things - such as illegal things.
You did nothing terrible at all - you were not yelling slurs at people, insulting folks etc. The penalty is the same though regardless of the chat infraction.
Now you know and can hopefully avoid it in the future.
For further reading, they have never allowed Advertising in LFG, but they created the services channel to get advertising out of Trade in 2022.
They also put up a recent reminder over on Classic. The Policy is not new, but the Services channel being available is new to Classic.
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Lesson learned, thanks! Penalty still seems really harsh for a technical oversight. I kind of wish I had reported the language thrown my way for having the gall.
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You have been linked the Support article where it is explicitly stated.
There have been stickied threads in multiple forums, and it was blasted through all the fan sites when it happened.
Penalties are not meant to be comfortable or “unharsh”, or anything that you find acceptable or “worth it”. There is no deterrent if a player finds the punishment acceptable.
This is not a “technical oversight”. It is a widely-publicized, very explicit policy that you ignored and tried to bypass. I understand that you may not have seen it, or knew about it, but that is never an excuse for breaking the rules, both in game and in real life.
I agree. If someone violates a rule in responding to you, they definitely should’ve been reported, as well.
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Penalties are not meant to be comfortable or “unharsh”, or anything that you find acceptable or “worth it”. There is no deterrent if a player finds the punishment acceptable.
Easily solved by a first offense warning, 2nd offense penalty.
This is not a “technical oversight”. It is a widely-publicized, very explicit policy that you ignored and tried to bypass. I understand that you may not have seen it, or knew about it, but that is never an excuse for breaking the rules, both in game and in real life.
I’m convinced you could not be more biased in your opinion on this subject if you tried. You are making a ton of assumptions with no basis in fact.
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The silence is the warning.
If you don’t heed that warning, it’s suspensions.
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One week chat ban is pretty harsh for a first offense. A simple 4 hour ban (or maybe 12 so you don’t sleep through it) to get your attention and a message that says, “You can do that, just not where you thought you could.” Lumped into the same group as people throwing slurs.
That’s the point. If it’s not harsh, you don’t learn your lesson. It’s a penalty.
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They tried shorter penalties (starting at 1 day silence, silences increasing in length from there).
It was found to be ineffective at deterring chat violations.
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